Hugo Chavez, fiery Venezuelan leader, dies at 58 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez was a former paratroop commander and self-styled “subversive” who waged continual battle for his socialist ideals. He bedeviled the United States and outsmarted his rivals time and again, while using Venezuela’s vast oil wealth to his political advantage. Chavez led one coup attempt, defeated another and was re-elected three times. Almost the only adversary it seemed he couldn’t beat was cancer. ...

Masschusetts man, 106 years old, gets high school diploma BEVERLY, Mass. (AP) — Fred Butler was married for 65 years, raised five children, served in the Army during World War II and worked for years for the local water department, but the fact he never earned a high school diploma always bothered him. Not anymore. The 106-year-old was awarded his honorary diploma Monday during an emotional ceremony attended by school officials, state lawmakers and Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon. “I thank everybody who i...

Comet making closest approach ever of EarthCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A recently discovered comet is closer than it's ever been to Earth, and stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere finally get to see it. Called Pan-STARRS, the comet is passing within 100 million miles of Earth on Tuesday, its closest approach. This ice ball will get even nearer the sun this weekend — just 28 million miles from the sun. That's within the orbit of Mercury. The comet has been visible for weeks from the So...

Dow average blows past its 2007 record highNEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average is trading at an all-time high. The index surged past its previous record set in October 2007, gaining 145 points to stand at 14,273 at midday Tuesday. That's a gain of 1 percent. The index is now up nearly 9 percent for the year, capping a remarkable comeback since the depths of the financial crisis. The Dow has doubled since bottoming out at a 12-year low in March 2009. Tuesday's gains were dr...

10 Things to Know for Tuesday, March 5, 2013Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. CHAVEZ HEALTH WORSENS, SUFFERS 'SEVERE INFECTION' Venezuela's communications minister says the 58-year-old president is in a "very delicate" state and having trouble breathing. 2. SANCTIONS FOR NORTH KOREA The U.S. and China agreed on a resolution to punish the nation for its latest nuclear test. 3. GOP ERECTS A BUDGET FIREWALL House Repu...

ConAgra, CHS, Cargill to form flour milling co.OMAHA, Neb. — ConAgra Foods is combining its North American flour milling business with that of a joint venture of Cargill and CHS Inc. to create a new business that will be called Ardent Mills. The three companies say the deal announced Tuesday will create a business that will have a broader view of the marketplace and be able to serve their customers better. Ardent Mills will draw on support from 44 flour mills, three bakery mix facilities a...

Obama nominates Wal-Mart's Burwell as budget chief WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Wal-Mart's Sylvia Mathews Burwell as his next budget chief, thrusting her into the center of Washington's heated partisan budget battles. Obama announced Burwell's selection to lead the Office of Management and Budget during a White House ceremony, noting that her appointment comes as government-wide spending cuts are going into effect that he said mean "eventually a lot of people ar...

10 Things to Know for Monday, Mar. 4, 2013Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday: 1. WHY US BUDGET CUTS MAY BE HERE TO STAY Washington didn't implode and no one has yet crafted a politically viable way to roll back the cuts. 2. MIRACLE IN MISSISSIPI GIVES HOPE TO HIV PATIENTS A baby who received early aggressive treatment appears to have been cured of virus that causes AIDS. 3. SELMA'S 'BLOODY SUNDAY' POIGNANT 5 DECADES ...

Rescuers end effort to find body in Florida sinkhole SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — The effort to find the body of a Florida man who was swallowed by a sinkhole under his Florida home was called off Saturday and crews planned to begin demolishing the four-bedroom house. The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole is almost completely covered by the house and rescuers feared it would collapse on them if they tried to search for Jeff Bush, 37. Crews were testing the unstable ground surrounding the home and eva...

Ceremony for Monitor sailors stirs familial ties RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A century and a half after USS Monitor sank, the interment of two unknown crewmen found in the Civil War ironclad’s turret is bringing together people from across the country with distant but powerful ties to those who died aboard. The ceremony Friday at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington will include Monitor kin who believe the two sailors — whose remains were discovered in 2002 — are their ancestors, despite DNA t...

Consequence to cuts no one thought would happen WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not the first time that government economic engineering has produced a time bomb with a short fuse. Back in 2011, few lawmakers, if any, thought deep and indiscriminate spending cuts, totaling about $85 billion and now starting to kick in, were a smart idea. The across-the-board cuts, set up as a last-resort trigger and based on a mechanism used in the 1980s, are a reality largely because President Barack Obama and House...

Mom’s lawyers want to bar baby’s autopsy photos INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Lawyers for a Chinese immigrant whose premature baby died after she tried to kill herself by eating rat poison are asking an Indianapolis judge to bar autopsy photographs from her murder trial, saying the pictures are overly gory and likely to prejudice jurors. Bei Bei Shuai’s attorneys said in documents filed Friday in Marion County Court that a medical examiner from Delaware who reviewed the photographs called them “appal...

Who will take on job of fixing Detroit’s finances? DETROIT (AP) — It appears the appointment of an emergency manager to take over Detroit’s failing finances is all but a done deal. But one question remains: Who will get the difficult, thankless job? Gov. Rick Snyder is being coy about his selection, saying only the person is “top notch.” Michigan’s Emergency Loan Board will do the official hiring of the candidate, who will provide state oversight on spending and restructuring. Whoever is chose...

Boehner: No reason to block Keystone XL pipeline WASHINGTON (AP) — A new State Department report is the latest evidence that the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada should be approved, supporters say. The draft report, issued Friday, finds there would be no significant environmental impact to most resources along the proposed route from western Canada to refineries in Texas. The report also said other options to get the oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries are worse for cli...

Budget cuts to hit military school districts first FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Public schools everywhere will be affected by the government’s automatic budget cuts, but few may feel the funding pinch faster than those on and around military bases. School districts with military ties from coast-to-coast are bracing for increased class sizes and delayed building repairs. Others already have axed sports teams and even eliminated teaching positions, but still may have to tap savings just to make it th...

NY fracking held as Cuomo, RFK Jr. talk health ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo came as close as he ever has to approving fracking last month, laying out a limited drilling plan for as many as 40 gas wells before changing course to await the findings of a new study after discussions with environmentalist and former brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr., several people familiar with his thinking told The Associated Press. The turning point, which could delay a decision for up t...

Sinkhole that swallowed Florida man ’unstable’ SEFFNER, Fla. (AP) — In a matter of seconds, the earth opened under Jeff Bush’s bedroom and swallowed him up like something out of a horror movie. About the only thing left was the TV cable running down into the hole. Bush, 37, was presumed dead Friday, the victim of a sinkhole — a hazard so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep...

37-pound tubby tabby Biscuit in need of home ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4-year-old — human, that is. A St. Louis-area animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth. Biscuit’s salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he’s restricted to about a cup of diet food per day. His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him t...

Gridlock: No budging at the budget-cuts deadline WASHINGTON (AP) — Gridlocked once more, President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders refused to budge in their budget standoff Friday as $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts bore down on individual Americans and the nation’s still-recovering economy. “None of this is necessary,” said the president after a sterile White House meeting that portended a long standoff. Even before Obama formally ordered the cuts required by ...

Lawyers clash over term ’pimp’ in Maine Zumba case ALFRED, Maine (AP) — The lead investigator in the case against an insurance agent accused of helping a fitness instructor use a Zumba studio as a front for prostitution testified Friday that she concluded early in her investigation that a “pimp” was calling the shots. Officer Audra Presby said she later realized she was in over her head and needed extra help. The Kennebunk police officer told jurors hearing the case against Mark Strong Sr. tha...